My Kind of Town
by ChillingTheMost
Summary: Bill, how did you, we get here? It all started with that girl, didn't it? No, not then. The path to here started well before them. Frank started this. The day I saved him, was the day I ended me. *Co-written by Cfulling3 and BoredWithTime* Beta read by CT230R.
1. Chapter 1

Bill, how did you, we get here? It all started with that girl, didn't it? No, not then. The path to here started well before them. Frank started this. I always hated Frank ever since the day I met him. He showed up, setting off my traps, just like Joel did. It all starts like that; people, not the infected, always the people. They break in like hounds, looking for my things. People always — back to the point Bill. Where did this start?

The day I met Frank, I saw him breaking in, setting off traps and then he was cornered by infected. I should've let him die, but no, Bill has to play the hero. Charging in and saving the idiot in his stupid fucking tropical orange button-up. The day I saved him was the day I ended me.

* * *

**Three Years Ago**

I sighed in disappointment , deciding to call it a day and head back to the cafe. The military had gotten better at not fucking up like usual; everywhere I went was picked fucking clean. Nothing but empty cans and bottles. Well, Tess would just have to make do with the meager supplies I managed to scavenge. Maybe this shit hole was picked clean before they got here; places like this, the suburbs of fucking nowhere Massachusetts, were usually hit first.

The first "hunters" started like this, back then they were called "looters". Like the first looter I shot.

He'd bashed in the glass of the auto shop I was hiding out in. It was the second month into the apocalypse and I was there alone, but I did have company in the form of a fat, hairy, oafish Southerner. The big redneck went out looking for "supplies for the both of us. Me and him were the only people on duty when the first runners came. It wasn't really bad in that bum-fuck, nameless town.

Dammit, Bill, you got off topic again – the redneck had left and I was alone in the shop. The looter came in with a bat and a small handgun, maybe a .380. I hid in the backroom and pulled the Beretta out of the drawer where it'd always been collecting dust in, waiting for use. When the time came, I didn't hesitate pulling the trigger. I hit him in the neck, and he stumbled backwards into the control panel. His elbow bumped the lever controlling one of the cars raised close to the ceiling as he started to fall, his face contorted and turned purple. In his mad scramble to keep on his feet he hit the, for lack of a better word, emergency-drop button. He then stumbled to his left, dropped to a knee and looked up. He reached up the hand that wasn't pressed to his wound. It didn't stop the car...

The sound of a nearby blast jarred me out of the memory, and it took several seconds to regain my bearings. Once back in reality, I quickly lost interest in the explosion. Explosions usually meant an Infected stumbling on a tripwire, which was more of an annoyance than anything. After listening for several moments to make certain it was not a threat; I went back to the chessboard. The white king stood trapped in a corner by a black rook and bishop. Grinning in triumph, I moved the queen into position to seal the checkmate. Then the screaming started, followed by panicked gunfire.

"What the hell?" I muttered, shooting out of the booth and snatching my backpack from right next to me. I bumped the table in the process and knocked the board over. "Ah, shit!" I groaned, but put off cleaning it up. I ran to the back door, picking up my bow and Glock on the way out.

Doing two things at once was never a talent of mine, and certainly never under pressure. Trying to reload the Glock while hauling ass to the garage where the gunshots came from was just a bad idea – I dropped the Glock and it discharged, fortunately just missing my leg

"Fuck!" I hissed. I picked it back up, stopped running and loaded it properly; all the while cursing myself for my clumsiness. I kicked in the door to the garage.

I aimed the bow at the first clicker I saw, which was two seconds away from tearing open the man dangling from my human-snare. Missing wildly, I took a deep breath and fired once more. Lodging the arrow into the clicker's neck, I draw another and fire at another runner reaching for a woman who was trying desperately to cut the rope above the fridge.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Don't cut that—"

The fridge crashes down and she went flying. The man hanging in the air to my left flops to the floor in a heap, and I rush to lift him up.

"Get up, you fucking idiot!" I growl.

He looked at me wide eyed and bewilderedly, before scurrying over to the woman.

I realized I'd been staring at them too long after an abnormally loud shriek and turned my attention to the small horde of infected piling in to the garage.

I fired my Glock into the crowd that surrounded the couple, hoping to buy them time to make a break for it.

The man did, but a Runner managed to trip the woman at the ankle as she made a break for it. It was only a glancing blow, but it was enough to knock her to the ground and send her kukri machete sliding towards me. Unable to reach the blade before the infected recovers, she turned to face it and tried to keep it off her neck.

"_NO_!" she pleaded hopelessly with the creature as it almost reaches her neck. I scooped the blade up and charged, but I can't reach her before it, along with two others, overwhelm her and divulge into her chest and neck.

Spinning around, I saw that the man was already backed into a corner, barely holding five infected off with the handle of a fire axe. I pulled the Glock back out and fire into the crowd until I feared I had hit him, he forcefully pushed off the crowd of infected, the three that I apparently killed slump to the ground while the only two left charged him once more. He took them both down with a single swing.

I started to reach into the side pocket of my bag for my bow when a sudden large force rammed into my back, bringing me to the ground. I elbowed the Runner off before it could bite me and aim my Glock which had just fallen out of my hand at its face, squeezing the trigger.

Click.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I grumble in a panic, trying to load the next clip in before I ended up like the broad.

It reached for me, only to have its arm cut in two by a fire axe. Forgetting about me, the thing clawed at its arm, howling in pain.

The man raised the axe above his head and brought it down on the Infected's head, adding a large splatter of red to the hideous button-up, orange Hawaiian shirt that he was wearing, along with my face, which was still on the ground. Another Runner rushed him and he brought the pick end up into the infected's stomach. He pulled the axe out and sends it to the ground. As the infected hit the concrete floor, he brought a heel down on its head. The final infected runs at him, I shifted out from behind him and put it down before it reaches him.

I stood slowly up, grunting my thanks to him. But, the asshole shoved right past me before I could get out of the way and sends me back to the ground; a mix of fear and determination on his face.

"Tay? Tay?" He called, looking around the garage in a frenzy.

Not bothering to get back up, I called out, "Hey, dumbass!"

He turned back to face me at an inhuman speed, glaring in annoyance. "What do you want?"

I pointed in the direction of the remains of the woman. "I believe you're looking for her."

**A/N This is written by myself and Cfulling3. It is beta read my CT230R**


	2. Chapter 2

"Tay! Tay please! C'mon Taylor, you're gonna be alright!"  
"Tay come back to me, please don't leave me Tay, I really need you now"  
I grabbed him by the shoulder, "She's gone." I deadpanned while looking at his watering eyes.  
"No, no not yet, she can't leave me now, you don't know her. She isn't gonna go out like this."  
"She is gone, we need to go. The gunshots are going to draw more infected, I have a safehouse not far from here. We need to go."  
"I'm not going anywhere without her!"  
"You have to let her go, man. It's over for her, but we still have a chance, let's get out of here."  
"No, we can't just leave her. I don't even know your name, bu- but please just please help me get her out of here!"  
"I wish I could, but more infected are on the way, we have to go." Why doesn't this idiot see how dangerous of a position we're in?  
I extend my hand out to him; hesitantly, he took it and looks me straight in the eyes.  
"The name's Bill, welcome to my town."

The next minute was a race to diner, a chorus of howls and clicks echoing around us as the Infected close in on the noise. But fortunately, we made it back without incident. As soon as the door closes, I sigh in relief and collapse into one of the booths. "When those things calm down, we'll get her body and bury her." I promised.

He nods numbly and slinks against a wall, "Okay." He looked down at his knees and said with a sigh, "I'm Frank."

I snorted in reply, "Well, Frank, if you're looking for something to do while we wait; there's a bit of a project I've been working on for some time, and I'd appreciate the help."  
He pursed his lips and frowned, deep in thought. The fact he had to think about helping me after I saved his life was enough to make me jump out of the seat. "Maybe I should've been clearer," I snapped, "I saved your life. You owe me."  
Frank leapt up, nostrils flaring, "Fuck you! I don't owe you shit! You got my niece killed!"  
I laughed mirthlessly at that, "Oh, I killed Taylor? Not you two, who strolled in here and set off all my traps like a dinner bell? I risked my life to try and save you both, when I could've just as easily stayed outside that fucking garage and let you two get torn apart, and you have the nerve to say I killed your niece!" I shove him against the wall, snarling, "Frank, you're helping me, whether you want to or not."

He shot me a glare that could have killed a clicker, "the fuck do you want" he snarled. I released him from the death grip I had on him and directed him to my map of the town.

"Well, the other day I was checking the north wall here" I say as I pointed to the black stripe on the map, "And I came across quite a horrible site, a group of hunters. I grabbed my rifle and prepared to try to fight them off, but fortunately for me they startled a pack of infected."

"So what's the point" he snorted.

"Well sunshine, if hunters are in the area, then we have to get them out of the area. We need to let them know we are here and they shouldn't dare fuck with us."

"So we're going out to slaughter them?"

"Maybe, but not now,today we are just going to put up signs ya know, like don't fuck with us or shoot on sight, shit like that"

"So we aren't killing anybody, just putting up signs?"

"That's the plan" I reply curtly.

"Good, after this morning I couldn't stand to take life from anything."

* * *

I tried my best to ignore Frank's grumbling, but after twenty minutes of listening to him bitch about painting warnings while I kept watch, I had enough. "You know, I only had you do that since you said you couldn't take a life," I snapped, "So if you could stop whining about your job, that'd be great."  
"I shouldn't even be doing this bullshit! I haven't done jack-shit to you!" He retorted sharply, stopping halfway through the 'sight' in 'will shoot on sight'.  
I laughed condescendingly, "Oh, really? Do I need to go through the list again? You owe me because I saved your life."  
"You didn't do shit!" He shouted, throwing the bottle of spray paint to the ground, "We co-" his eyes widened as they locate something behind me, "Oh fuck"!

"Oh shit!" I stammered out. I pulled the only weapon I brought, my Glock. I fired into its chest with no results and grabbed Frank by the shoulder. I turned down an alley to my immediate left. I ran full speed as I heard the monster gain on me, suddenly I saw a glare at the end of the tunnel.  
"Get Down!" I made my best attempt at a baseball slide and heard Frank dive in behind me with a heavy grunt under the tripwire. I got to my feet first and grabbed Frank by the collar. I shoved him around the corner and stumble after him.  
I braced myself for impact when the wire was tripped by the bloated monstrosity covered in fungal plating and the nail bomb shattered.  
I dared to peek around the corner and see the mangled creature incapacitated against one wall of the alley, Frank shoves past me to end it with a fire axe.

"You... mind... telling me... what this thing is?!" He grunted, trying unsuccessfully to pull the axe out of its broken face.  
"I... don't know, definitely a new Infected... that's for sure." I panted, trying to get my rapid heartbeat under control before I went into cardiac arrest. "In any case… I think… we're done for today."  
Frank nodded his assent, "Sounds… good… to me."  
I made a mental note to spread the news to Tess on our way back, and another one to set up more bombs in clusters, just in case more of those bloated nightmares are around.

Co-written by BoredWithTime and Cfulling3. All future chapters will be written solely by BoredWithTime.


End file.
